Getting your food right before a race is a bit like revising for an exam.
There are those at school who work hard and consistently all year.
Then…….
Well, there were those that were like me – Cocky!
Thought I didn’t need to do the work, thought I was cleverer than I actually was, thought the teachers knew nothing!
You know where this is going……
Those that did the work got the results they wanted but more than that, deserved.
Likewise, I got the results that I deserved but they were NOT the results I wanted.
I learnt that the hard way, luckily it didn’t stop me getting where I wanted to be, it just took me longer than if I had listened.
Leaving your Pre Race Nutrition to the night before, or worse still to the morning of the race is useless if you are going to get what you deserve, that process needs to start far earlier.
One of the main reasons is physiological but there is also a huge psychological component.
First the physiological:
I will talk extremes here for the sake of ease.
If your diet consists of mainly cereals, grains, gels, sports drinks and shop bought ready made food, your body will become used to being fuelled from this.
It’s main source of available energy will be from glycogen, the product of carbohydrate consumption.
The body will also be lacking in the micronutrients used to help recover and repair from the stresses of training. The stuff you can only get from nutrient dense food.
That’s not even mentioning the effect of protein and fat, both of which can take a little bit of getting used to eating more of – mainly because it fills you up.
Then there is the psychological:
This refers mainly to the behavioural, our day to day habits which will determine our success or not.
If for example your current habits are:
Grab a quick breakfast on the go
Buy a sandwich, crisps and chocolate bar for lunch
Pick something up for dinner on the way home
You will fail.
Because you are not giving thought to your food.
This scenario is remarkably common and actually leaves us massively under fuelled during the day, ironically when we train.
The above breakfast and lunch may only be 750 cals, which is mainly calories and not nutrients.
Then a dinner of maybe 1200 cals from pasta, cake and wine.
Getting into good habits takes time and real discipline and its where most people fail, mainly because they don’t acknowledge this.
So, this is where your Pre Race Nutrition really begins.
Now, changing habits.
It’s one of the things I focus on in by E-book – The Triathlete Nutrition Code:
It covers the 5 habits that will instantly make your nutrition better:
Other things include:
Eating for your body type.
How to reverse a damaged metabolism
Improving sleep quality
Cycling your carbohydrates
etc, etc
And, it only costs £9.99/14 USD ish.
Get it now:
Jamie “Teaching old dogs new tricks” LeightonPre